Objective: This study determined whether older adults who consumed a probiotic mixture would have a greater proportion of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes, altered cytokine production, and a shift in intestinal microbiota toward a healthier microbial community.

Methods: Participants (70 ± 1 years [mean ± SEM]; n = 32) consumed a probiotic (Lactobacillus gasseri KS-13, Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1, and Bifidobacterium longum MM2) or a placebo twice daily for 3 weeks with a 5-week washout period between intervention periods. Blood and stools were collected before and after each intervention. The percentage of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes and ex vivo mitogen-stimulated cell cytokine production were measured. In stools, specific bacterial targets were quantified via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and community composition was determined via pyrosequencing.

Results: During the first period of the crossover the percentage of CD4+ cells decreased with the placebo (48% ± 3% to 31% ± 3%, p < 0.01) but did not change with the probiotic (44% ± 3% to 42% ± 3%) and log-transformed concentrations of interleukin-10 increased with the probiotic (1.7 ± 0.2 to 3.4 ± 0.2, p < 0.0001) but not the placebo (1.7 ± 0.2 to 2.1 ± 0.2). With the probiotic versus the placebo a higher percentage of participants had an increase in fecal bifidobacteria (48% versus 30%, p < 0.05) and lactic acid bacteria (55% versus 43%, p < 0.05) and a decrease in Escherichia coli (52% versus 27%, p < 0.05). Several bacterial groups matching Faeacalibactierium prausnitzii were more prevalent in stool samples with the probiotic versus placebo.

Conclusions: The probiotic maintained CD4+ lymphocytes and produced a less inflammatory cytokine profile possibly due to the changes in the microbial communities, which more closely resembled those reported in healthy younger populations.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2014.983249DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cd4+ lymphocytes
12
lactobacillus gasseri
8
gasseri ks-13
8
ks-13 bifidobacterium
8
bifidobacterium bifidum
8
bifidum g9-1
8
g9-1 bifidobacterium
8
bifidobacterium longum
8
inflammatory cytokine
8
cytokine profile
8

Similar Publications

IL-35 modulates Tfh2 and Tfr cell balance to alleviate allergic rhinitis.

Inflamm Res

January 2025

Department of Otolaryngology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510623, China.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) represents a persistent inflammatory condition affecting the upper respiratory tract, characterized by abnormal initiation of the immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated cascade. Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells and regulatory T (Tfr) cells are pivotal in orchestrating the development of IgE production in AR patients. IL-35, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, secreted by various cellular subpopulations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Long-term management of people living with HIV (PLWHs) often relies on CD4 T cell counts for assessing immune recovery, yet a single metric offers limited information. This study aimed to explore the association between the CD4/CD8 ratio and T lymphocyte activities in PLWHs.

Methods: 125 PLWHs and 31 HIV-uninfected controls (UCs) were enrolled and categorized into four groups based on their CD4/CD8 ratios: extremely low ratio (ELR) group: 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nr4a1 and Nr4a3 redundantly control clonal deletion and contribute to an anergy-like transcriptome in auto-reactive thymocytes to impose tolerance in mice.

Nat Commun

January 2025

Division of Rheumatology, Rosalind Russell and Ephraim P. Engleman Arthritis Research Center, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.

The Nr4a nuclear hormone receptors are transcriptionally upregulated in response to antigen recognition by the T cell receptor (TCR) in the thymus and are implicated in clonal deletion, but the mechanisms by which they operate are not clear. Moreover, their role in central tolerance is obscured by redundancy among the Nr4a family members and by their reported functions in Treg generation and maintenance. Here we take advantage of competitive bone marrow chimeras and the OT-II/RIPmOVA model to show that Nr4a1 and Nr4a3 are essential for the upregulation of Bcl2l11/BIM and thymic clonal deletion by self-antigen.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

T cells expressing the γδ T-cell receptor (TCR) represent a numerically small proportion of total T cells. Unlike αβ T cells they are activated by non-peptide antigens independently of MHC-presentation. γδ T cells have been recognized as a favorable prognostic marker across different tumor entities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Esmolol has been demonstrated to mitigate inflammation damage and T lymphocyte apoptosis in septic cardiomyopathy. It has been established that the activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) by cluster of differentiation 4(CD4) T lymphocytes expressing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) can prevent excessive inflammation and reduce splenocyte apoptosis in septic cardiomyopathy. Given the similar anti-inflammatory effects, we hypothesized that esmolol might be associated with α7 nAChR and thereby exert its cardioprotective functions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!